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I work a lot with people who are moving into their newly purchased condo/coop apartments and fitting out the place with new window blinds: so I often hear stories about the purchase process. My current customer purchased a two bedroom coop which it to be a second residence in addition to her home in Connecticut: she will be staying there when she works late nights at the law firm. When seeking approval from the coop board members, she was continually being asked to explain why she needed two bedrooms; turns out one of the coop board members was suspicious she was really looking to rent one (or both) of the bedroom on AirBNB. Apparently that sort of thing is happening a lot lately with people buying in Manhattan: getting approval for the coop board is just one of the many road blocks one may run into along the way.

If you have the pockets, condo is the only way to go. Coop approval is a horrible process in most buildings. Your entire life ends up scattered on the coffee tables of your potential neighbors for them to poke and prod through. It's a terrible invasion of privacy in order to buy a home.

^ Agree. In my case, it was the seller's broker that kept demanding more and more documentation before he submitted the package to the board, even though I was paying cash. I think the previous owner got a better offer after he accepted my bid, and they were trying to freeze me out.